The internet contains an unbelievable amount of information, however finding what you exactly need is not always that easy. There are many types and kinds of sources out there with complex search languages which often results in getting lost in millions of search results without finding what you need. Where many users simply assume that all answers to information problems are available on the World Wide Web and that these answers are all indexed by Google, nothing could be further from the truth.

Arno Reuser is the is the principal teacher for Open Source Intelligence (OSINT), cybercrime, information warfare and Investigative Internet search strategies. As founder and manager of the Open Source Intelligence Branch of the Defence Intelligence & Security Service he is deeply passionate about open source intelligence. In this masterclass we learn from the best as he teaches us how to uncover all kind of secrets from the internet. Arno also teaches OSINT to many (semi-)governments, security agencies and private sector, such as EU, UN, law enforcement and many universities.

Intended Audience

This training is suitable for:

White team/ Blue team members during the recon phase;

Security Team members (defensive security experts);

Security posture investigators;

OSINT-enthusiasts.

Required skills & expertise

No specific skills are required upfront to this course. Prior to the program we do ask you to read various articles recommended by Arno Reuser as homework to provide the most added value in the course itself. Some technical background is helpful to keep our high pace in the course (meaning you know what an IP address is for example). Please bring your own laptop to the workshop. Make sure you know how to connect your laptop to a locally provided WiFi and be sure you have the permissions to do so.

Program

This one day program is split up into 5 sections.

Section 1: Requirements and answerable questionsWith a wild amount of information available, setting up requirements and defining finite and clear questions is step one in the OSINT process. Good research starts with formulating a good question. The concept of an ''answerable question'' will be demonstrated helping researchers getting much better search results and saving lots of time.

Section 2: SourcesFindig high quality information that is timely, accurate and reliable is essential in today’s world of fake news and fake sources. There are techniques to find the best Internet sources out there. The workshop will demonstrate the use of Reuser's Repertorium of the best search engines, news sources, country information, maps, people, etc. In addition, the workshop will show how to use conventional library catalogues to find experts to help built your network.

Section 3: Building intelligent queries using BooleanLearn how to do your queries better by constructing smart queries using Boolean operators in Google, Bing, Yandex and other main stream Internet search engines. This is applicable in any search engine, any database. Despite how easy this sounds; the results are impressive. The workshop will demonstrate query building techniques to find exactly what you want instead of millions of useless results.

Section 4: Search engines and search strategies

This section contains an overview of types of search engines and when to use which one. Also, peculiarities and things to know to get the most out of Internet research are discussed. Next we discuss search strategies. We learn how to use a systematic strategy to find relevant information out of the millions out there, and, we learn how to use a strategy called ‘’successive fractions’’ to bring down 10 million hits to just a few hundred, with high relevance.

Section 5: Information management techniques

One of the main challenges in OSINT is how to keep track of your research, share your results and continue the research on a later date without having to redo work. We look at time saving force multiplier techniques to do research.

Learning objectives

Learn how to optimize your open source intelligence investigations;

Get access to a repository of great sources;

Learn to define answerable questions and build intelligent queries;

Know how to define effective search strategies when trying to answer your questions;

Understand how to keep track and create an overview of your research done.

Last, but not least: you get to take home your very own printed OSINT handbook with all the handouts & Quick Reference Sheets and get access to the RIS Helpdesk for one year and a lifetime access to Reuser’s Repertorium, an online directory with dozens of important search engines, news websites, research tools, country information, government information etc.